Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

Dictionary of language and linguistics 170CeltiberianCelticCelticBranch of Indo-European, formerly spread over large parts of Europe and Asia Minor,but today found only in northwestern Europe. Geographically, Celtic falls into twogroups. (a) Continental Celtic, which is extinct today and attested only in inscriptions,borrowings and place-names; to this group belong Celtiberian (or Hispano-Celtic),Gaulish, Lepontic (sometimes subsumed under Gaulish), and Galatian. In the last twodecades, there have been some important finds of longer texts, such as the tablets inBotorrita (Celtiberian) and Larzac (Gaulish). (b) Insular Celtic. under which fall the twogroups Gaelic (or Goidelic). with the subdivisions Irish (approx. 500,000 speakers).Scots-Gaelic (approx. 90.000 speakers) and the recently extinct Manx (on the Isle ofMan), on the one hand. and Brythonic. with the branches Welsh (approx. 400.000speakers. attested since the eighth century). Breton (approx. 1.2 million speakers in theFrench province of Brittany, where speakers emigrated to from Britain some 1.400 yearsago). and Cornish (extinct since the eighteenth century, but currently experiencing arevival). on the other hand. It is still under debate whether the division into Continentaland Insular Celtic also constitutes a genetic grouping. For there is a further division thatexists between the Celtic languages which does not coincide with the former grouping.i.e. that into the so-called pand q-Celtic languages depending on the fate of IE . whichin the q-Celtic languages remained a velar sound (Celtiberian, Irish, and some Gaulishdialects). whereas in the p-Celtic languages it became p (the Brythonic languages andGaulish along with Lepontic). The exact genetic relationship between these groupsremains controversial to date.Other characteristics: the whole of the Celtic branch of languages lost IE *p, which isthe most significant feature. Furthermore, there is no infinitive and no verb ‘have.’Features characteristic of all the Insular Celtic languages include initial consonantalmutations, originally a sandhi phenomenon caused by a preceding vowel, but laterheavily grammaticalized, and pronominal forms affixed to the verb. Its orthographyleaves it unclear whether Continental Celtic had any kind of mutation. Word order inInsular Celtic is VSO, which deviates from other IE languages.ReferencesBall, M. (ed.) 1993. The Celtic languages. London and New York.Gregor, D.B. 1980. Celtic: a comparative survey. Cambridge.Hendrick, R. (ed.) 1990. Syntax and semantics, vol. 23: The syntax of the modern Celtic languages.New York.Jackson, K. 1953. Language and history in Early Britain. Edinburgh.Macauley, D. (ed.) 1992. The Celtic languages. Cambridge.